The European Union
introduced new rules on the shipment of toxic waste on Thursday seeking to halt
the illegal dumping of hazardous materials in developing countries. The
regulations, which entered effect on Thursday, come after a series of incidents
involving ships including the release of toxic waste from Spain into the
Mediterranean after a ship, the Ulla, sank in a Turkish port in 2004.
Last year, the Dutch-chartered
ship Probo Koala dumped toxic chemical slops near Ivory Coast, leading to 16
deaths and tens of thousands of sick people who suffered vomiting, diarrhoea
and breathing difficulties after inhaling fumes from the waste. "We must
make sure that tragic accidents such as last year's dumping of dangerous waste
in the Ivory Coast never happen again," Environment Commissioner Stavros
Dimas said. "This is why we must have strong and efficient measures at EU
level to prevent illegal shipments of waste and to ensure that when waste is
shipped for treatment outside the EU, this treatment does not damage the
environment."
The rules, which update a
regulation from 1993, require EU governments to carry out inspections and spot
checks of ships in their territory. They also give governments the right to
open up containers to check their contents. EU nations are already bound by
commitments on movements of waste under the United Nations Basel Convention and
rules that forbid ships carrying hazardous waste from transferring that
material outside OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development)
countries.
The new regulation also
lays out rules for shipments within the 27-country bloc, including requirements
for detailed information to accompany cargo with hazardous waste. It bans the
export of hazardous waste from the EU to developing countries and exports for
waste disposal outside the EU and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA)
countries. "The ban will thus be applied as a means to prevent large amounts
of electronic and electric waste and end-of-life vehicles being shipped to and
dumped in developing countries," the Commission said in a statement. The
EU is looking at establishing criminal sanctions against companies that flout
environmental rules, another way to crack down on such illegal shipments, it
said.
(By Jeff Mason, Planet
Ark , 13/07/2007)